4.  The applicant was born in 1977 and lives in Zielona Góra, Poland.
5.  On 19 December 1999 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of kidnapping a certain J.M. On 21 December 1999 the Zielona Góra District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) ordered that the applicant be remanded in custody until 19 March 2000 in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offence in question and the fear that, given the severity of the anticipated penalty, he might go into hiding or otherwise obstruct the proceedings against him.
6.  On 1 February 2000 the Zielona Góra Regional Prosecutor (Prokurator Okręgowy) refused the applicant’s counsel’s request to release him under police supervision. The Prosecutor reasoned that there was the risk that the applicant would induce other suspects to give false testimony or attempt to disclose the anonymous witnesses. The Poznań Appellate Prosecutor (Prokurator Apelacyjny) upheld that decision on 16 February 2000.
7.  On 9 March 2000 the Krosno Odrzańskie District Court prolonged the applicant’s detention until 19 June 2000. The court repeated the reasons previously given for the applicant’s detention.
8.  Later, the applicant was charged relating to the homicide of J.M.
9.  On 13 June 2000 the Poznań Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny), on an application from the Zielona Góra Regional Prosecutor (Prokurator Okręgowy) prolonged the applicant’s detention pending the investigation until 19 September 2000. It fully upheld the reasons originally given for his detention.
10.  The applicant repeatedly – but unsuccessfully – asked for release, arguing that the charges against him had no factual basis.
11.  On 6 September 2000 the Zielona Góra Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) prolonged the applicant’s detention until 19 December 2000, finding that the grounds originally given for keeping him in custody were still valid.
12.  On 23 February 2001 the Prosecutor filed the bill of indictment with the homicide of J.M.
13.  The Regional Court subsequently extended the applicant’s detention until 8 June 2001. The relevant decisions were given on 12 December 2000 and 12 March 2001 respectively. The court reiterated the original grounds for his detention and added that the suspicion against the applicant was confirmed by evidence given by 2 anonymous witnesses and that, given that 2 of his 3 accomplices were still being searched for by an international “wanted” notice, the risk that he might obstruct justice was considerable.
14.  Between March 2002 and the end of December 2003 the Poznań Court of Appeal prolonged the applicant’s detention on 6 occasions. Those decisions were given on the following dates: 12 March, 6 June and 14 November 2002 and 26 March, 27 June and 29 December 2003. On the last of those dates, his detention was extended until 30 June 2004.
15.  In all those decisions, the Court of Appeal reiterated that there was a reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the serious offences with which he had been charged. It considered that, given the severity of the anticipated sentence and the risk that the applicant might tamper with evidence, keeping him in detention was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings. It also found that there were no special grounds, as specified in Article 259 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that would justify lifting the detention and imposing less severe measures.
16.  Throughout the trial the applicant made several unsuccessful applications for release and appealed, likewise unsuccessfully, against the decisions extending his detention.
17.  In the decision given on 29 December 2003, the Court of Appeal also stressed that keeping the applicant in custody was necessary in view of the fact that the Regional Court had – due to certain procedural flaws – to restart the trial and to rehear all evidence that had so far been taken. It further considered that his detention had to be prolonged because the Regional Court needed more time to hear fresh evidence suggested by the accused. The date for the restart of the trial was set for 26 January 2004.
18.  The applicant’s detention was further extended by the Poznań Court of Appeal on 29 June and 28 September 2004, 23 March, 23 August and 23 November 2005.
19.  The applicant is still in detention pending trial.